Improvement in copper-plate printing



3 Sheets--Sheet1.

Patented July 2,1872.

W. CONISBEE. Copper-Plate Printing.

In HraTo-z/MOMAPHM an AM oszmR/vrs P206255,

3 Sheets--Sheet 2, W, CON!SBEE Coppen-Piate Printing. No.128,595,' Patentedluly 2,1872.

1 i b NI 4% Um'rnn STATES WILLIAM CONISBEE, OF LAMBETH, GREAT BRITAIN.

IMPROVEMENT IN COPPER-PLATE PRINTING.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 128,595, dated July 2, 1872.

I I, WILLIAM GONISBEE, of Lambeth, in the county of Surrey, Kingdom of Great Britain from engraved intaglio plates by the combination with it of my improved automatic apparatus for inking and cleansing the surfaces of such plates according to my invention. Fig. 2, Sheet 2, is a longitudinal vertical section of the machine taken through the line A B of Fig. 3. Fig. 3, Sheet 3, is a plan of the upper part of the machine.

My improved automatic apparatus, which I combine with the well-known machine, illustrated in the drawing, for the purposes of ink- 7 ing and cleansing the surfaces of engraved intaglio plates, is constructed as follows: At a suitable distance from the printing-cylinder I fixtwo frames, 1, capable of carrying two turned rollers, m n, which may be made of cast-iron, but, for fine colors, are, by preference, made of gun-metal; and these rollers are placed parallel with the face of the printing-cylinder. The roller m furthest from the printing-cylinder is provided with an ordinary doctor-knife, 0, ground on the edge, to work against the periphery of the roller m to regulate the supply of ink, and the other roller, 11., is provided with a flexible steel-scraper or doctor-knife, n", for the purpose hereinafter described. Underneath the first roller, m, I place two other rollers, q q, clothed in a suitable manner, and hav ing an elevating and depressing motion to enable them to receive ink from the ink or doctor roller m and to deposit on the surface from which it is intended to print. In the space between the rollers m n first described and the face of the cylinder 9 I form two other bearings, l, and inthern I place a metal holder or frame, 1), fitted with tightening-screws, for the purpose of holding one or more flexible steel plates, 10 In the drawing only one plate or knife, 12 is shown but when it is required to give greater rigidity to this knife 12 I place one or more thin steel plates face to face with it in the frame p, but so that the lower edges of such plates do not extend quite to the lower edge of the knife 12 The end of the frame 10 is provided with a crank-lever, p and a connecting-rod, 10 which receives motion from a cam, p, on the wheel-shaft S, for the purpose of partially rotating the frame 1), for the purpose hereinafter explained. The foregoing parts and the cloth-covered cleaning-roller as, hereinafter described, in combination, constitute my improved automatic apparatus for inking and cleansing the surfaces of engraved intaglio plates.

On the printing-table e I secure the engraved plate of steel or other material from which it is intended to print. I place watercolor ink in the ink-duct t, which, as will be seen, is eonstituted of the roller m and the knife 0 hereinbefore described. On turning the pinion-shaft t around the table 0 passes under the inkingrollers q q and the plate becomes inked over its entire surface. As the table e returns the engraved plate passes under the scraper or doctor 10 and the surplus ink is removed from the parts of the plate that are not engraved,

leaving the ink in the engraved parts only.

The sheet of paper to be printed upon is then fed to the cylinder by being laid on the feeding-table r and taken hold of by the griper 7c in the ordinary way, and is passed between the cylinder and the engraved plate under suitable pressure from the cylinder, caused by the tightening-screws w, as in an ordinary cylindrical printing-machine, whereupon the paper receives an impression from the engraved part of the plate, and is then taken from the cylinder while the griper is open for the purpose, For the purpose of removing the ink from the scraper 1) each time the plate is cleaned 1 cause the scraper to turn on its axis in order to bring the scraper to the face of the roller n, which, on rotating, takes off nearly all the ink from the scraper, and as it is returned to its position for cleaning the plate the edge is brought into contact with a roller, 00, covered in suitable cloth and having a to-and-fro motion vertically, which wipes the edge clean. The cleaning-roller av receives its vertical to-and-fro motion by means of inclines, one of which is formed at each side of the printing-table, which lift the roller 4:: as the table passes under them. Having delivered the ink onto the first cleanin g-roller n, I remove it from the surface thereof by the contact of the roller with the flexible plate 12", previously described, in such man; ner that as it is scraped off it is taken off by contact with the ink-duct roller m and returned to its original place in the ink-duct v, and thus no ink is wasted except what is left on the cloth-covered cleaning or wipin g roller 00. The duct-roller m and the doctor or cleaning-roller n are made to rotate in reverse directions by means of suitable bands 3 driven by means of 

